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Tragedy Sparks Speed Study Along County Road

SNOW HILL – The recent traffic death of a local dog on Peerless Rd. has raised questions about speeding cars and prompted a speed study on that street.

The Worcester County Commissioners agreed to the Peerless Rd. speed study on Tuesday at their general meeting, before making a final decision on adding speed limit signs or increasing traffic enforcement on the street.

A resident of Peerless Rd., whose dog was recently killed by a speeding car on the street, has asked Worcester County to post speed limit signs on the street between Maryland Route 610 and Campbelltown Rd.

Peerless Rd. does not have speed limit signs currently, said Public Works Director John Tustin.

As with all non-posted roads, Tustin added, Peerless Rd. is subject to an enforceable speed limit of 50 mph.

On Tuesday, Tustin suggested to the commissioners that staff should conduct a speed study of the road for four or five days before taking action on the requested speed limit signs.

The resident who called in the complaint has indicated that there are a lot of speeding issues on Peerless Rd., according to Tustin.

A speed study will help the county determine how much of a speeding problem there is on Peerless Rd. and help decide the best approach to deal with it.

The county could add speed limit signs or send law enforcement to focus on speed enforcement on the street at high volume times.

Commission President Bud Church said that the concerned Peerless Rd. resident has called him a number of times with complaints over vehicles traveling too fast, including after her dog was killed by a speeding vehicle.

“She said he was flying,” Church said.

People use that street as a faster, alternate route, and sometimes do 80 mph., according to this resident, said Church.

“I do believe they speed down that road because it’s a shortcut,” said Church.
The county already has the equipment to do the speed study, Tustin said.
The automatic equipment measures the number of cars, the time of day, and the speed driven.
“That’s the prudent way to go,” said Commissioner Judy Boggs.
The commissioners voted unanimously to conduct the speed study.